Waitplate Chewing Timer:

This innovative and intelligent device is the first visual aid to address the excessive speed of eating. The timer actually re-educates the user to chew slowly, stop and “pause” appropriately and promotes eating self- regulation. Sit down to a full meal or snack and turn on the green activation button of the Timer. When the small light starts to flash “green” commence chewing your first mouthful of food. Chew slowly in time to the flashes (approx. one chew per second). After one and a half minutes the light will flash “red” which signals the user to put down his/her cutlery and cease eating for approximately one minute. During this rest period it is important to assess your hunger as these periods of no eating help to restore your hunger/satiety response (your natural ability to know when you are getting full and can stop eating). When the green light starts to flash again you can commence eating following the same eating sequence for the duration of the timer. The timer will turn off after 18 minutes. This period of 18-20 minutes is how long it takes for your body to register fullness. Eating slowly, mindfully and learning to pause constantly throughout the meal allows the user feel full while consuming less food. Snacks may require only using the timer for ten minutes. Simply hold the green activation button down for ? seconds to turn it off and for two seconds to pause the timer.

Waitplate Portion plate:

The Waitplate plate is designed to demonstrate the correct apportionment of salad/vegetables (one full half of your plate), one quarter lean protein (meat, fish, tofu etc) and one quarter of a starchy carbohydrate of your choice (mashed potato, pasta, rice for example). Try to keep protein and starchy carbs to the flat part of the plate only. The design is discreet so the user is not obviously using a “dieter’s” plate. Each family member could have their own plate.

Baked goods template:

Simply hold the template over the cake, pizza or bread of choice and cut around the outside while holding the handle. Eat only what remains within the template. This is a modest serve. For example: A main meal of pizza could mean 1-2 slices with a large green salad for women (and children under 14) and 2-3 slices with salad for males. Place the bread template over your favourite type of bread but only eat the correct portion size. This will eliminate hundreds of unwanted calories. Limit a portion of cake or pie to just once or twice a week.

ProteinTemplates:

Use the protein templates as stated above. Hold over any form of solid protein (fish fillet, steak, chicken breast, tofu etc) and cut around outside of template. The blue template (males) determines around 120 g serve and the pink template (females and children under 14 years) is around 90g. These templates are a guide to a modest serve. A very active person may double this portion size. The thickness of the protein serve should approximate the thickness of the template.

Dressings and fats:

Use the narrower end of the dressings and fats template for a single serve measure of butter, margarine, oils or mayonnaise. The larger measure is a single serve for salad dressings and sauces. Underestimating the amount of these fats consumed can lead to many hidden calories. So use this template often.

Carbohydrate Template:

The starchy carbohydrate template is made of flexible silicon and will deliver the ideal portion of mashed vegetables (sweet potato, potato, pumpkin, etc), cooked rice or pasta for both males (up to blue section), females and children (pink section). Simply fill to the desired level (you made need to experiment with exact volumes to suit your activity level) and hold over your plate. Gently squeeze and a perfect portion will be delivered onto the plate. You can serve each member of the family the required amount directly onto their plate. The template also measures soft proteins like cooked mince (spaghetti sauces), stir-fry meats and takeaway pre-made Asian foods and curries. This multifunctional tool can be used to measure cereal and soup.